Is it some type of fate, does destiny have plans for the name of Volkswagen or was there some crazy remodel strategy that could have started with an explosive device sounding off? Most likely the reality is there hasn’t been a reason to be concerned regarding any explosive ordinance at the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg since the end of World War II and the place was combed over for bombs and other ordnance, at least not until recent events took place.
It appears an Allied bomb was recently discovered at the factory by construction workers who actually found suspicious looking metal in four different locations at the VW plant. Thankfully this bomb was one of the pre-war designs and did not contain any advanced electronics that would be needed to diffuse such a bomb today. Once the bomb squad was called in the bomb was easily diffused and disposed of which allowed the construction to continue in the plant as planned. What’s interesting about a bomb being in the VW plant is the fact that the Allies bombed this factory at all during World War II.
At first thought you might wonder why the Allies would have bombed this factory at all. This was where the KdF Wagens were produced for the Allies during the war and would have been a protected location which wouldn’t come under fire. It seems the story is the VW factory did promise to build the KdF Wagens for the Allies but instead built the amphibious Schwimmwagens for Ferdinand Porsche and the Kubelwagens for Hitler. During production the Allies wouldn’t have known they were being double crossed, but certainly once this was discovered the VW plant would have been a target that many might have expected to be flattened by a bombing by the Allies.
The VW plant was one of the few locations that remained operational during the war and it withstood many attacks during the war once the Allies realized they weren’t going to get any KdF Wagens. Despite having one large hole in the roof from a bomb, this was a plant that made it through the war and became a pillar of hope for the German economy after the war was over. In fact this plant was so important to the rebirth of Germany that a British Army officer named Ivan Hirst fixed it up in 1946 and then allowed the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to hand it back over to Germany in 1949 to begin the production of the original VW Beetle.
All over Europe unexploded ordnance can be found if you dig far enough and it appears VW hadn’t dug far enough until now. Thankfully the bomb was disarmed and no one was injured, but it certainly allows us to relive the past and think about what took place at this factory so many years ago. Volkswagen is one of the European brands that made it through the war and did so by siding with patriotism in their German leader rather than crossing over to the enemy, regardless of the right or wrong of the situation.
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